Advertising spend up 1% in Q2, says AA and Warc

The report found that there was a 1% rise in advertising spend in the second quarter, up to £9bn in total.

Key online formats such as search (up 5.3%) and online display (a rise of 5.8%) led the rise in adspend, alongside broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) at 5.6% growth and out of home, which increased 4.4%.

In the first half of 2023, the UK advertising market recorded a 1% year-on-year increase, equivalent to £17.5bn in spend from January to June 2023, compared with £17.3bn the previous year.

The AA and Warc said they expected advertising spending to reach £35.6bn in 2023, with 16.1% year-on-year growth in BVOD, as well as large rises for online display ( 7.4%), out of home ( 7.7%) and cinema ( 7.6%), owing to major sporting events and the success of the Barbie and Oppenheimer films.

The UK’s ad market is expected to grow by 3.9% to reach £37bn in 2024, slightly down from July’s forecast of 4%, with more channels likely to return to growth next year, such as the online portions of national and regional news brands and magazines.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive at the Advertising Association, said: “Advertising continues to show itself as a weathervane for the UK economy, with the advertising market expected to grow slightly more than the economy, with both barely in positive figures.

“Looking ahead to 2024, we expect to see more channels experience growth again, as the ad market grows to £37bn for the year.”

James McDonald, director of data, intelligence and forecasting at Warc, said: “The UK’s economy continues to skirt with recession as households make cutbacks in the face of stubbornly high inflation and unemployment slowly ticks upwards as activity in the private sector cools.

“It is therefore encouraging that, amid this backdrop, the UK’s advertising industry was able to grow during the first six months of 2023, and that the market is on course to be 2.6% larger this year overall.

“It should, however, be noted that this growth is concentrated in certain corners of the industry, with broadcasters and publishers bearing the brunt of an unfavourable trading climate while digitally native platforms largely prosper.”